


Nine Minutes and a Kiss

by americanhoney913



Series: Angelic Poly [7]
Category: Charlie's Angels (2019), Charlie's Angels (Movies)
Genre: Elena doesn't know how to go undercover without internal panic, F/F, Sabina knows her shit, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2019-11-24
Packaged: 2021-02-25 21:35:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21542350
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/americanhoney913/pseuds/americanhoney913
Summary: They’re disguised, Elena in yet another beautiful yet casual dress while Sabina’s gone full butch today, but Sabina notices Elena checking out every single person they pass. She’s still a nervous newbie and, while Sabina finds her adorable, it makes them look suspicious. Sabina grabs the taller woman’s hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. Elena gives her a nervous/shy smile combo and Sabina wants to coo but she coughs back the sound and stays professional. Elena’s walk speeds up and Sabina grabs her arm, pulls on her until she slows to match Sabina’s pace.“First rule of using the crowd as cover,” Sabina whispers to her companion, “don’t run, walk.”
Relationships: Elena Houghlin/Sabina Wilson
Series: Angelic Poly [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1549639
Comments: 10
Kudos: 194





	Nine Minutes and a Kiss

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the scene from Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

Sabina watches Elena, sees the way her eyes scan the crowd for anything suspicious. It’s her first mission after getting her tattoo and she’s visibly nervous. They’re here to get info from a USB, but Aisha, their contact within the organization, warned them that it was traceable, so they couldn’t use it with any of Townsend's tech. Langston quit his job to follow Elena and became a techie for Boz and Elena’s group of Angels. He told them to find a computer store, either a Best Buy or an Apple store, so that the bad guys would trace it to a random store and not their safehouse.

They’re disguised, Elena in yet another beautiful yet casual dress while Sabina’s gone full butch today, but Sabina notices Elena checking out every single person they pass. She’s still a nervous newbie and, while Sabina finds her adorable, it makes them look suspicious. Sabina grabs the taller woman’s hand and gives it a reassuring squeeze. Elena gives her a nervous/shy smile combo and Sabina wants to coo but she coughs back the sound and stays professional. Elena’s walk speeds up and Sabina grabs her arm, pulls on her until she slows to match Sabina’s pace.

“First rule of using the crowd as cover,” Sabina whispers to her companion, “don’t run, walk.”

Elena chuffs and shakes her head, fiddling with her red wig, itches at the back of her neck. Elena lifts a leg and wiggles her foot. “If I run in these shoes, they’re gonna fall off.” Sabina’s seen Elena run in heels, but the shoes they’d had in the closet that went with this outfit didn't fit the brunette but she’d put them on anyway.

That pulls a smile from the shorter Angel as she reaches for Elena’s hand, hoping to make them look more like a couple than undercover agents. She pulls on Elena’s hand and directs them to the nearby Apple store to one of the MacBook Pros.

“ The drive has a level six homing program,” Elena says as she holds up the little USB that should have all the answers. “So as soon as we boot up, they’re gonna know exactly where we are.”

“ How much time do we have?” Sabina asks, fiddling with her glasses and looking around, scanning the store for threats.

“ Uh...about nine minutes from...” she pops the flash drive into a MacBook Pro, “now.”

“Boz was right about that warehouse; somebody's trying to hide something.” Elena’s fingers click against the keys, pounding out a rhythm as she tries to hack her way into the drive. “This drive is protected by some sort of AI. It keeps rewriting itself to counter my commands. So glad Langston and I have been practicing.”

“Can you override it?” Sabina asks, looking over her shoulder nervously.

“The person who developed this is slightly smarter than me.” Elena shoots her a reassuring look. “Slightly.” She continues to tap away at the keys, eyes scanning the codes for any sort of break in the continuous streak of numbers. “I'm gonna try running a tracer. This is a program that the agency developed to track hostile malware, so if we can't read the file, maybe we can find out where it came from.”

Suddenly, a light squeeze on her shoulder makes Elena look up, first to Sabina then to the surrounding area. The veteran Angel looks unsure of herself but shuffles to cover the screen from the eyes of the employee that’s standing before them.

“Can I help you guys with anything?” the sales associate asks. She’s got long blond hair, bright pink and purple streaks in her hair and shiny bright blue eyes. Sabina detects no threat, and she takes a deep breath.

Feeling the squeeze on her arm alerts her to how uncomfortable Elena is with this situation and her heart goes out to the other woman. Even with her training, Elena still feels uncomfortable lying through her teeth. “Oh, no.” Sabina pats Elena’s shoulder as the woman works behind her. The bleach-blonde woman’s smile is blinding as she gives off the vibe of a girl in love and glowing with happiness. “My fiancé was just helping me with some honeymoon destinations.” Her voice gets high-pitched and breathy and Elena grumbles under her breath until Sabina nudges her.

Elena, on the other hand, stiffens. Not only at the contact but also at the idea of pretending to be an in-love couple about to get hitched. Elena chuckles uncomfortably and nods. “Right!” Elena pulls back, takes Sabina’s hand, and presses a kiss to it with quivering lips. “We're getting married.”

“Congratulations,” the Apple employee says sincerely. “Where do you guys thinking about going?”

Sabina tries to be subtle as she looks back over the rookie’s shoulder at the monitor and sees the signal traced to somewhere in the five boroughs of New York City. Sabina runs her hands through the wig and wishes to take the itchy thing off. “Brooklyn.”

The employee makes a noise of approval before she goes silent. Her eyes scan Sabina up and down and the shorter Angel has to use all of her weight to hold Elena in place instead of fleeing like she wants to. Obviously this girl needs more undercover training. The woman in front of them opens her mouth and even Sabina’s breath hitches. “ I have the exact same glasses.”

Sabina breathes a sigh of relief and responds with a snarky, “wow, we’re practically twins.” 

The employee chuckles and looks Elena up and down again. “Yeah, I wish,” she puts her hands out as if to touch Sabina’s arm or hand; “specimen.” Elena visibly relaxes under Sabina’s touch and she just wants to pull Elena to her and reassure the taller woman that they can get through this. The woman shakes her head and holds up her nametag. “Uh...if you guys need anything, I’m Mia.”

“Thank you.” Sabina nods as the woman, Mia, walks away with a smile on her face. Sabina turns back to the hacker. “You said nine minutes, come on.” Sabina continues to scan the room, looks around the store with suspicious eyes. 

Sabina’s not used to this. The waiting around and the hacking and being undercover in a covert way isn’t her style. She likes to be doing things, seducing and shootouts and casing property before the infiltration. Elena’s used to sitting at a desk and waiting and hacking and being all sciencey. She’s not as used to being a different persona every day and being sneaky in a crowded place by being invisible. Sabina brushes back a strand of the wig from her eyes and squeezes Elena’s bicep as she flexes her fingers nervously. 

“Shh, relax.” The computer chips and it makes a smile spread across Elena’s lips. It begins to zoom in on Brooklyn and the name Crossroads Detention Center flashes on the screen. “Got it.” Beside her, Sabina stiffens and it doesn’t feel like she’s breathing against Elena’s back where she’s been looking over her shoulder. “You know it?”

“I used to,” Sabina says with a rough tone, as if she’s trying to hold back her emotion, which is unusual for her. “Let's go.” Sabina pulls the flash drive from the computer with a frown on his face, Elena silently following as they make their way out of the store.

They find themselves once again immersed in the crowd. With almost sad eyes, Sabina watches as a family rushes past, the children carrying Build-a-Bear boxes and wide smiles as their parents chase after them. Elena notices a group of teenagers slapping each other on the back and the smallest one in the middle flushing as she holds the hand of a pretty girl. It makes both of them reminisce.

Shaking her head, Sabina continues to scan the area, eyes widening as she notices two police-looking professionals coming toward them. 

Jane’s voice crackles over their tat-cons.  _ “ _ _ Standard tac-team, guys. Two behind, two across, two coming straight at you.” _ Sabina’s brows furrow and she cases the area to see exactly who Jane’s talking about. Guys in tactical gear stomp through the crowd, not blending in at all and Sabina rolls her eyes. She feels Elena squeeze her arm, nails digging into the fabric of her leather jacket.  _ “If they try to engage,” _ Jane continues,  _ “hit the south escalator to the metro. We’ll be waiting with a getaway car.” _

Sabina shakes her head, a smile on her lips. Jane might be a mastermind, but Sabina’s a pro at blending in. If they run, the guys might hurt Elena and she’s not going to let that happen. She pulls Elena closer, pressed against her side as they walk. “ Put your arm around me. Laugh at something I said.”

_ “Sabina…” _ Jane warns.

“ What?” Elena blinks owlishly at her, confused.

“ Do it!” Sabina hisses as Elena leans into her and laughs, but it sounds like more of an uncomfortable chuckle and Sabina snorts, covering her mouth with her other hand as she lets out an honest to god laugh.  She shakes her head and slides her arm along Elena’s hip, hearing the woman’s breathy inhale and smirks. Sabina’s jade eyes sparkle with mirth. Elena feels a shock zip down her spine as the thought of  _ ‘she’s so beautiful when she laughs’ _ flashes through her mind. She’s seen Sabina laugh plenty of times, but every time she’s in awe of how full of life Sabina is. Maybe Sabina will let her draw her sometimes; Elena might be a hacker but that’s not the only thing she can do with her hands. Elena shakes the thoughts from her mind as the shorter angel pulls her toward the escalator.

Sabina steps on in front of Elena and keeps her hand firmly in hers. It makes Elena feel safer than she’s felt in a while. Trying not to think about  _ why _ , Elena checks the area one more time. And it’s just in time too. She nudges Sabina and the woman stiffens when she sees one of the tac-team guys get on the escalator to make his way to the second floor. Spinning around, Sabina glances down at Elena out of the corner of her eye, liking how she has the high ground right now. She looks Elena right in the eye as she says, “kiss me.”

Startled, Elena looks up at her, wondering if she actually heard her correctly. “What?” Elena chokes out.

“ Public displays of affection make people very uncomfortable,” Sabina tells her as if it’s already common knowledge. They can both hear Jane grumble something through their tat-coms.

“ Yes, they do.” Elena shifts uncomfortably, looking anywhere but at her. She fiddles with one of the buttons on Sabina’s leather jacket, something Sabina notices she does when she feels unsure of herself. Fiddles with something or seeks out contact with either her or Jane. Not that she hasn’t thought about kissing Sabina, but Elena thought it would come later rather than sooner and somewhere less public. Like the safehouse or a sparring mat with only Jane as witness… or participant. 

Instead of responding or backing off, like Elena expects she will, Sabina quickly reaches down and pulls Elena to her. Her hand is soft on Elena’s cheek, cupping her jaw, as her lips gently press against the brunette’s. Both are surprised at the zing that jumps from Sabina’s lips to Elena’s and back. Eyes close as Elena puts one arm on Sabina’s hip and the other reaches up to tangle in the hair of her wig, being careful not to pull it too hard. At the soft tug, Sabina makes a noise in the back of her throat that makes Elena pull away quickly, an apology on her tongue when she notices the shorter woman’s reaction. A small smile slowly crosses Sabina’s face and her eyes flutter as they open, one hand clutching Elena’s arm to steady herself. Elena feels almost as disoriented as her but both of them quickly hide their reactions as the situation comes back to Sabina first and then Elena.

The blonde turns to face the front of the escalator as they near the bottom, the guy in tactical gear already on the next level and unaware of their presence. “You still uncomfortable?” Sabina asks, cursing at how breathless and shaky her voice sounds. She wipes at her mouth and shows Elena how her finger comes away with a tiny bit of shiny strawberry lip gloss. Checking Elena’s following her over her shoulder, Sabina pushes her way towards the exit to their car. 

Elena’s voice sounds slightly embarrassed and aroused at the same time as she says, “it’s  not exactly the word I would use.”

**Author's Note:**

> ANOTHER FIC? I love this movie so much I feel like I, along with some other people, are going to bring this category to life!
> 
> I hope you guys enjoyed this fic. Read and review!


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